Cult comedies

We may be currently experiencing the worst summer in the history of summers, but if you're stuck inside hiding from the rain there are plenty of comedy shows out there that will put a smile on your face.

There is a seemingly endless stream of uninspired sitcoms churned out from the US like generic McDonald's cheeseburgers.

They have the same format, the same style jokes and canned laughter at every punch-line.

These kinds of comedies (Friends, Two and Half Men, King of Queens, My Wife and Kids- I could go on. And on and on and on) are all very well.

They're very popular and inoffensive, and one or two of them are funny- but if you want something different, something original, something really funny, then dive into the world of cult comedies.

You'll find these mostly in Britain in the form of The Mighty Boosh, The Office and Peep Show, and even the Americans managed to do something a bit different with Curb Your Enthusiasm.

But what makes Peep Show a cult comedy, while Friends will never be described in this way?

When I think 'cult' I think a small, weird and extremely devoted community that worship a mad patriarch.

Replace 'patriarch' with 'comedy show' and replace sinister manipulation with a display of ingenuity and fantastic humour and you've pretty much got your head around a cult comedy show.

Comedy shows that have achieved cult status have several things in common.

For one, they start off small, with very little promotion and it is critical acclaim and word-of-mouth that enables them to achieve success, rather than flashy adverts and media coverage.

The Office launched in the summer of 2001 in just this way.

Ricky Gervais was a relative unknown but industry big dogs managed to see the pilot and agreed to commission it as a series, agreeing that Gervais and Stephen Merchant would write, direct and, in Gervais's case, star in it.

It wasn't a hit with the public at first, but the critics loved it, journalists wrote about it, BBC2 repeated it and in 2002 The Office made a clean sweep at the BAFTAs. It has won a total of 20 awards.12»